Berto vs. Porter & Charlo vs. Hatley tonight

Boxingnews24.com

By Allan Fox: Andre Berto (31-4, 24 KOs) and “Showtime” Shawn Porter (26-2-1, 16 KOs) will be fighting tonight, as well as WBC junior middleweight champion Jermell Charlo (28-0, 13 KOs) and Charles Hatley (26-1-1, 18 KOs) at the Barclays Center in Brooklyn, New York. Berto-Porter is an important fight for both of them, as the winner of match becomes the #1 WBC mandatory challenger to World Boxing Council welterweight champion Keith “One Time” Thurman.

Porter already was defeated by Thurman last year, but he wants another shot at him, because he feels he can improve over his previous performance. Berto, 33, is just trying to keep his career afloat after a string of losses since 2011. Berto needs a win in the worst way to show the boxing public that he’s still relevant. Going off Berto’s record in the last six years, he’s not relevant. He’s just a guy living off his past accomplishments with a high ranking.

Showtime Boxing will be televising the Berto vs. Porter card, as presented by Premier Boxing Champions.

“It’s going to be a tough fight, no doubt,” said trainer Virgil Hunter to Thaboxingvoice.com about tonight’s fight between Shawn Porter and Andre Berto. “Whoever makes the adjustments will win. It’s going to be a close fight. It’s not going to be a blow out on either end unless somebody get stopped. It could be [a war], but some boxing in there too. I don’t think either one of them wants a war for 12 rounds. Both of them are in danger in that situation,” said Hunter about the Porter vs. Berto fight.

“I’m focused. I had a tremendous camp and I’m ready to put it all together,” said Berto to Thaboxingvoice.com.

Berto’s trainer Virgil Hunter will have him ready tonight with a great plan, but whether he can carry out the plan against a younger fighter like Porter is the big question. This is a much different type of fighter for Berto than the fighters that he’s been beating in the last three years. Berto’s only victories in the last six years have come against Jan Zaveck, Steve Upsher Chambers, Josesito Lopez and Victor Ortiz. Beating those guys is one thing, but it’s a different story when you’re talking about an upper echelon quality fighter like Porter, who can both punch and box. Porter has boxing skills, and he can pressure his opponents as well. We don’t know what Poirter will do tonight against Berto. It could be a bit of both with him boxing and pressuring Berto for as long as the fight lasts.

“This is my opportunity to have some fun,” said Porter to esnewsreporting.com about the Berto fight. “I wanted him to know that I watched him for a very long time. I’ve seen what can happen to him. I wanted him to know what I can do. This is what boxing is all about. It’s just as much entertainment as it is a sport. I got more to lose. The WBC title is on the line. I got more to lose,” said Porter.

The 33-year-old Berto isn’t that much older than Porter. The difference is that Berto held the IBF and WBC welterweight titles in the past in between 2009 and 2011. You can argue that the division was watered down at that time, as Berto didn’t have to beat a good fighter to win his titles. Berto beat Miguel Angel Rodriguez to win the vacant WBC welterweight title in 2009. In 2011, Berto picked up the IBF 147lb title in defeating Jan Zaveck by a cut stoppage in the 5th round.

“I want the WBC title. That’s next. That’s something I’ve always wanted,” said Porter to Thaboxingvoice.com. “The number one thing I can do is win. This fight will let [Keith] Thurman know I am here. Andre Berto is dangerous if you allow him to be. We’ll do everything we can to make sure that doesn’t happen. I have no doubt in my mind that we won’t be put in any danger in this fight. You look at the Floyd fight and you see that foot movement works against Andre Berto. Then you can look at a fight with Josesito Lopez, who was out-boxing him, but he stayed there. Jose is not a mover, so he was there and in line in danger to be hit, and the worst happened to him. He was put down by Victor Ortiz. He got up and he was the one that finished the job. The difference between myself and Victor Ortiz is I’m a fighter that doesn’t stop. If I put you down, I’m coming after you. You’re going to recognize that you got put down and you’re not going to have a chance to think about what I do or what should I do. I’m not going to give you the opportunity. I’m not one of those type of fighters that if I don’t get you out, I’m not going to be there to be hit and to be maneuvered and to be put in place to be put down like Victor Ortiz was. My style is a little different from those guys. I can do what those guys can do, but I can also do things that those guys can’t,” said Porter.

Berto may have slowed down a lot in terms of his hand speed, but he can still punch and his speed is better than most welterweights in the division. Porter will need to make sure that he’s focused on his defense in this fight, because Berto could knock him out like he did with Josesito Lopez in 2015. Berto was losing to Lopez in the first 5 rounds. In the 6th, Berto caught Lopez with a big right hand that hurt him. He then dropped Lopez twice to get the knockout.

“I think the jab is the key to this fight, because I think my jab is better than Andre Berto’s jab,” said Porter. “I throw my jab with intention. I throw my jab with direction. I can throw an off pace jab to set something up. I think a jab is very pivotal in this fight. I don’t condone boos. It’s just a matter of how I fight. I’m always exciting. You will see something different. This fight with Andre Berto, everything I do will be exciting,” said Porter.

In the co-feature bout tonight, WBC 154lb champion Jermell Charlo (28-0, 13 KOs) will be fighting a motivated and dangerous Charles Hatley (26-1-1, 18 KOs). There’s some bad blood between these two fighters. At yesterday’s weigh-in, Hatley and Charlo were really jawing at each other, and it looked like they were ready to start throwing blows right then and there. These guys do not like each other one bit. It’s not fake dislike on their part. Charlo wants to go and knock Hatley out, and vice a versa.

Charlo, 26, is the favorite in this fight, but you never know. Hatley can punch, and he’s coming off of a big knockout win over former world champion Anthony Mundine in his last fight in 2015. If Hatley can get to Charlo’s chin, he might be able to knock him out. Charlo isn’t a big puncher, so Hatley can take a lot more chances against him than he would against another fighter. That’s the big difference in this fight.

Hatley can take chances that Charlo can’t. Still. it’s a fight that is Charlo’s win unless he gets caught with something big from Hatley. Charlo has the boxing skills to avoid Hatley’s big punches though. It wouldn’t be shocking news for Hatley to win the fight by knockout, but it’s not likely to happen. Charlo is looking pretty good right now in his last 2 fights. He’s not as big a puncher as his brother Jermall Charlo, but he’s still got a fair amount of power and size that can give Hatley all kinds of problems tonight.